[The inventions described herein may be manufactured, used and licensed by or for the U.S. Government for U.S. Government purposes.]
The invention relates in general to anti-personnel (APERS) munitions and in particular to a gun launched anti-personnel munition.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,990 incorporates a payload of layers of flechettes. However, this design requires an internal charge and a plurality of detonator systems to disperse the payload. This is a costly and complicated design thereby allowing for higher probability of failure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,737 is a dual purpose APERS round. In addition to the anti-personnel capability, it also uses an armor piercing anti-tank penetrator core. This round is not practical in the event there is no tank target. It is also less effective because there is a reduced anti-personnel payload. This also increases the costs considerably.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,459 is also a dual purpose APERS round. However, unlike U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,737, this design uses a high explosive, armor piercing charge instead of the penetrator core. These both lack practicality due to the need of an armored target. This design is even more costly because there is an aft charge for the anti-personnel shrapnel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,083, while called xe2x80x9canti-personnel,xe2x80x9d is not a gun fired ammunition. It is actually a hand-launched grenade. This contains an explosive, which turns the casing into shrapnel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,500 is another dual purpose round. This design differs from the previous dual-purpose rounds in that both the anti-tank and the anti-personnel payload are mines. This design is not intended for the elimination of current personnel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,461 is a canister with a payload of mini-bombs. The small bombs are ejected by the use of a charge (an ignitable propellant). The small bombs are deployed when the case reaches a specific height above the ground. This design is more suitable for a longer range.
A dual purpose round is disclosed, wherein the anti-tank portion is a high explosive charge, but the anti-personnel portion uses the fragmentation of the casing as the projectiles. This round is not desirable due to the duality of the design. It also has less effectiveness toward the anti-personnel portion due to the lack of payload.
A fragmentation projectile such as a single or dual purpose grenade or bomblet for a cargo projectile, is disclosed, wherein a fragmentation body the envelopes an explosive charge carrying casing, which fragmentation body comprises one or more fragmentation rings notched in axial direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,628 is specifically an anti-personnel round. This design utilizes a non-elastic collision projectile, which increases the effectiveness of each impact. However, this design has two major drawbacks. The first is that the canister must have an open end, which does not provide containment of the xe2x80x9cLead Wax Pelletsxe2x80x9d. It also has temperature restrictions. This also requires an indicator that increases the cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,866,841 is a fragmentation grenade. Though its effective principle is similar the method of function is vastly different; requiring high explosive to provide the energy to the high speed fragments.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,183 is an anti-personnel area denial device. It is not a round and functions like a mine using a TASER electronic stun method to provide a temporary non-lethal effect. This device has a completely different operating principle and effective range.
One embodiment of the present invention is an anti-personnel canister comprising a generally cylindrical container having side walls, the side walls defining an enclosure with a generally concave surface at one end and an opening at another end; the side walls having an outer surface, the outer surface including a plurality of longitudinal grooves formed therein and, below the plurality of longitudinal grooves, a circumferential obturator groove; a plurality of submunitions disposed in the enclosure; a spacer disposed in the enclosure between the plurality of submunitions and the opening; and a cap disposed on the opening of the container, the cap having a top surface and including a pair of orthogonal grooves formed on the top surface.